Foundations of Digital Universities

Abstract

Universities need to maintain data about various resources. They include intellectual creations that are the focus of (Digital) Libraries, but also courses, research projects, and people. Data about intellectual creations are maintained in institutional repositories, while data about courses, research projects, and people reside in various databases designed to support specific vertical applications. We propose a uniform treatment of such resources leading to Digital Universities, i.e., a set of key resources, methodologies, and tools appropriately organized to effectively support universities' users. This requires new methodologies, data models, authority control mechanisms, and system infrastructures that are able to support a broader range of services.